Refrigerator cabinet



NOV. 18, 1952 J 5, PALMER 2,618,527

REFRIGERATOR CABINET Filed Sept. 27, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 m INVENTOR.

570579 5. a/mek enMi c3.

NW: 1!, 1952 J. 5. PALMER 2,618,527

REFRIGERATOR CABINET Filed Sept. 27, 1947 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 i /m a 1% fl y Patented Nov. 18, 1952 REFRIGERATOR CABINET John S. Palmer, Evansville, Ind., assignor to International Harvester Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application September 27, 1947, Serial No. 776,435

1 Claim. I 1.

This invention relates to a refrigerator cabinet and, more particularly to a cabinet of the chesttype.

' .Mostrefrigerat-or cabinets of the household or upright type include at least two compartments, one of which is a refrigerated food storage compartment and. the other of which is. a nonrefrig erated compartment providing space for the housing of refrigeration machinery. In cabinets of this type the machinery compartment is ordinarily closed by a tilting door which has associated. therewith a. vegetable bin which will be disposed within. the machinery compartment when the door is closed.

Refrigerators of the chest-type are ordinarily constructed on the same principle in some respects as household or upright types, except that the former are horizontally rather than vertically elongated and the machinery compartment is alongside the food. storage compartment. with this type of refrigeration apparatus that the present invention is primarily concerned, and it is proposed to provide an improved refrigerator cabinet construction including a common base which carries both thefood compartment and the non-refrigerated and machinery compartment. It is likewise proposed toprovide in the machinery compartment a dry storage or non-refrigerated space for the purpose of storing articles for which refrigeration is not necessary. To this end the invention is directed toward the provision of modified forms of refrigerator cabinet constructions utilizing to the greatest extent possible the non-refrigeratedspace occupied in part by the refrigeration Inachinery and to equip this space with a partition in the form of a shelf so that a storage space is provided apart from either the food compartment or the machinery compartment.

Other objects of the invention include: an improved refrigerator cabinet construction in which the food compartment and non-refrigerated compartment are provided as separate structures associated together on a common base; to provide a. removable shelf in the non-refrigerated space; and. to provide various forms of cover or door structures for the dry storage or non-refrigerated space.

Other objects and features inherent in and encompassed by the invention will become apparent from a reading of the ensuing description of preferred embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying sheets of drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front view partly in section of one form of the invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of thesame con struction, a portion of the cabinet being broken away to illustrate the interior of the non-refrigerated space;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing a form of the invention in which the coveris arranged in a difierent manner; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a further modified form of the invention.

Figures 1 and 2 its right-hand end (as viewed in Figure '1) av vertical end wall 45 provided by a pair of spaced apart inner and outer sheets i5 and I1. The food compartment also includes a bottominsulated wall H8. The compartment is cooled orrefrigerated by a plurality of evaporator coils l9 which surround the inner sheetld and by a further series of evaporator coils 20 associated with the bottom wall l8. This construction is generally conventional and forms no detailed part of the present invention.

The box or chest Ii that includes the food compartment i2 occupies a major portion of thebase l9 and at one end the base projects beyond the end wall E5 in the form of an integral base extension 21. A second box-like structure 22 having an end wall 23 and a fl ont wall 24 is supported on. the base extension 2i and is detachably associated therewith and with the end wall- IS, The proximate face of the structure 22 is. preferably opened and flanged as at. 25. This flange is preferably detachably secured to the end wall Q5. The wall E5 is thus common toboth the food compartment 12 and the non-refrig-v erated space within the structure 22, which. space is divided into upper and lower compartments 2t and 2'! by means of a partition in the form of a transverse shelf 28. The space is open at its top as at 29 (Figure 2) and this opening is normally closed by a hinged cover 38. In this form of the invention the cover 38 is hinged at the rear upper edge of the structure 22.

The structure 22 includes a bottom 3| (Figure 1) which is located on a plurality of pins 32 prois broken. away in section shows by way oi. example the jecting upwardly from the base extension 2!. The lower compartment 21 is adapted to house refrigeration machinery indicated generally by the numeral 33 (Figure 2), which machinery includes a conventional condenser 34. The front wall 24 of the structure 22 includes a grilled opening 35 in front of the condenser 34 by means of which air may circulate through the lower or machinery compartment 27.

The shelf 28 is preferably removably carried in the non-refrigerated space by means of a pair of angles 33. The cover 39 for the non-refrigerated space and the cover it for the food compartment l2 are, in this form of the invention, co-planar, thus lending to the attractive appearance of the chest. Likewise both covers provide access to both compartments from the top. The shelf 28 provides in eifect a bottom wall for the upper compartment 23, which compartment may be used for the storage of articles for which refrigeration is not necesssary. Inasmuch as it is seldom that access must be had to the machinery compartment 2?, the division between the two compartments by the shelf 28 affords an upper compartment of greater utility to access to which may be had by opening the cover 30. When it is necessary to gain access to the machinery compartment 3'5, the shelf 23 may be removed upwardly through the opening 29 when the cover 30 is opened.

Figure 3 The form of the invention shown in Figure 3 follows closely that just described, only in this instance the structure 22 includes a cover 31 that is hinged on an axis lying along the upper edge of the end wall 23. An upper portion of the front wall 24 is recessed as at 38 to provide for easier grippin of the cover 31 for opening the cover. The structural and functional advantages of this form of the invention are comparable to those set forth in connection with those set forth in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 In this form of the invention the structure 22 may be permanently closed at its top by a cover 39 which is co-planar with the cover l4 for the food compartment I2. The box-like structure 22 is opened at its front as at 40 and this opening is normally closed by a hinged door 4| having in the lower portion thereof a grilled opening 42 in alinement with the condenser 34 in the lower or machinery compartment 2?. Otherwise the structural and functional characteristics of this form of the invention are the same as those set forth in connection with the modifications set forth above.

SUMMARY In all forms of the invention the primary fea- .4 in are those preferred as the result of selective tests based upon requirements for achieving the objects of the invention and developing the utility thereof in the most desirable manner, due regard being had to existing factors of economy, simplicity of design and construction, production methods and the improvements sought to be effected. It will be appreciated, therefore, that the particular structural and functional aspects emphasized here are not intended to exclude, but rather to suggest, such other adaptations and modifications of the invention as fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A refrigerator cabinet of the chest type, comprising: a first structure including a, bottom wall and vertical side and end walls defining an opentop compartment to be refrigerated; a second structure including a vertical side wall and a vertical end wall, both of substantially the same height as the first structure walls; fiange means on said second structure for detachably securing the second structure at one end of the first structure with the second structure side wall providing an aligned extension of one of the first structure side walls and the proximate end wall of the first structure serving as another wall of the second structure to define an open-top non-refrigerated space; a base support disposed so as to extend beneath both of said first and second structures; a horizontal shelf removably positioned on flange-like supports within the non-refrigerated space and disposed so as to separate said space into an upper dry-storage compartment and a lower refrigeration machinery compartment, and having said shelf removable upwardly through the open-top of said non-refrigerated space so as to afford access to said macihnery compartment; said side wall of said second structure being provided with a grilled opening communicating with said refrigeration machinery compartment; a first cover structure for the topopening of said refrigerated compartment mounted for movement to open and close said opening; a second cover structure for the top-opening of said non-refrigerated space; said covers being co-planar with the pivotal axes of both horizontally disposed and in axial alignment; and having said covers arranged so that when both are in a closed or in a fully opened position with regard to their respective openings the outer surfaces of said cover structures will be substantially coextensive and in alignment one with the other.

JOHN S. PALMER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 630,183 Connell Aug. 1, 1899 2,139,441 Clarke Dec. 6, 1938 2,203,716 Bergman June 11, 1940 2,230,862 Carroll Feb. 4, 1941 2,356,779 Morrison Aug. 29, 1944 2,361,649 Phelan Oct. 31, 1944 2,462,115 Luecke Feb. 22, 1949 

